Sunday, September 25, 2016

Reg-u-late

Six months til Ofcom starts being the regulator of the BBC - and it's still not clear who will write the all-important service licences, toughened on distinctiveness as demanded by the new Royal Charter.

The Government is insisting that BBC Trust funding, close to £10m shaved off the licence fee, follows Trust-type activity - and the BBC expects the vast majority of Trust staff to be re-berthed in Ofcom. Service licences are their baby, but the Ofcom Content Board must be sniffing around how the BBC fits into the wider broadcasting ecology.

Until last month, the Content Board was headed by former Economist editor, Bill Emmott, who left after just five months in the role. Who might step up to the plate ? Existing members include some very familiar with the BBC - Former Sky News big cheese Nick Pollard, who spent nine weeks poking round BBC News over Newsnight's un-run Savile reportage; Aled Eurig, 14 years with BBC Wales; and Andrew Colman, 13 years with BBC Northern Ireland; Janey Walker, 12 years a BBC producer; and Robin Foster, 7 years a BBC strategist. Helping the Board with 'delivery' is new Content Group director, Kevin Bakhurst, ex RTE and BBC News Channel.